


new dark light

by mingowow



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Coming of Age, Gen, childhood AU, nostalgia vibes, sort of coming of age???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 00:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16733478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mingowow/pseuds/mingowow
Summary: when mingyu is six, his family moves.





	new dark light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [were1993](https://archiveofourown.org/users/were1993/gifts).



> hello! thanks to the mods at the spooky svt fan fest for holding this exchange!
> 
> my prompt was "possessed doll" (thank u buddy). i took a few creative liberties with it and this is definitely a "prequel" of sorts to the actual story i wanted to write (time didn't allow me to finish the original idea). but hopefully that will be following sometime in the future. :)
> 
> unbeta'd, apologies!
> 
> hopefully you enjoy it, as simple as it is!

When Mingyu is thirteen, he is digging through his parents' closet, looking for his mother's sewing kit. She asked him to fetch it after his dad ripped the seam of his jeans will redoing the siding on the back of their house.

It's late summer and the tight space is stuffy and warm. Mingyu annoyingly shoves the heavy coats and sweaters to the side as he pads around the bottom of the closet. There are an assortment of boxes there, mostly unmarked, so he's forced to open each one up and inspect the contents.

It's mostly old family photos and albums, another overflowing with old, yellowed receipts. There's a large one reeks of mothballs when he opens it and he recognizes his late grandmother's crocheted blanket neatly folded inside.

Mingyu smiles a little to himself, stroking at the softness.

There's another box tucked away in the far corner and when he unfolds the flaps, he snorts.

Inside, there's a bag of Lego pieces and a red toy car perched on top of it. He's outgrown the Legos phase, now opting for actual models and more intricate designs that don't require the simple fitting together of plastic blocks. But he picks up the bag anyway and fondly jostles the pieces in his grip; there are still a few stuck together in odd Tetris-like shapes.

He's about to drop the bag back down when he notices beady eyes on a fuzzy brown face. It looks like a common teddy bear upon first glance, but for whatever reason, he feels slightly perturbed at the sight of it.

Mingyu reaches to pick it up but his mother's voice rings out asking him if he's found "it" (the sewing kit), he drops the Legos back inside and shoves the box back to its corner, delving through the last few containers to try and find her sewing supplies.

 

***

When Mingyu is six, his family moves.

They leave the nice, convenient satellite city of Anyang for a small (note: _extremely_ small) town somewhere near his grandmother's place. There aren't many houses there; in fact, there's not much of anything, except for space.

He's not that broken up about it because in his mind, he doesn't realize that means he'll probably never see his friends from kindergarten anymore. It seems like a vacation, a trip of sorts, like that time he and his parents flew to Cebu with his new baby sister, Minseo.

Mingyu likes it around his grandmother's house. There's so much room to run around outside, unlike his old home that had nothing within walking distance besides a crowded centralized playground that all the apartment buildings around had to share. There are trees to climb and bugs to catch and streams to splash around in. It's pretty much paradise.

They're currently at their grandmother's house and having eaten a large home-cooked dinner, he feels a little sleepy. Their parents had dropped them off so they could move things into the new house; Mingyu hadn't protested because days at his grandmother's were always the most fun. Especially now that he's not there alone; having his sister around only makes it more exciting.

Minseo only recently learned to walk so Mingyu finds himself holding her hand at all times, gently tugging her along wherever he goes.

But that doesn't stop him from trying to teach Minseo how to catch fireflies without smushing them. He cups her hands into the correct rounded shape before leaning over the step of the porch and stumbling off himself, arms outstretched to catch the flickering bug.

"Careful now, Mingyu," his grandmother chides him. He feels her ruffle his hair and he can hear his sister's soft giggles from somewhere behind him.

"Like this!" he tells Minseo, hand gently swooping up and catching the bug. He's quick to cover it with the other, forming a small sphere between his palms.

He keeps his fingers tightly pressed against one another, remembering his dad's instructions that any small gap, and the bug can escape. He only spreads apart his two thumbs ever so slightly when he brings them to his eye and wants to see the pulsating light.

He shows Minseo, who squeals in unwarranted fear at the sight of the insect, causing him to laugh. His grandmother is sitting on the bench beside the porch watching them. Mingyu is grinning at her when his sister stumbles and pulls on his arm, his hands slipping apart and the firefly fluttering free.

"Minseo!" he whines, desperately swatting a hand at the sky to try and re-catch it. He fails and huffs, gazing up at the rapidly darkening sky.

"Sorry," she mumbles and he can hear it before he sees it, the way her voice catches and the audible way her lip wobbles.

Mingyu feels a twinge of something and quickly wraps her up in his arms, hugging her against his chest. He's not really angry.

Two headlights illuminate the otherwise dimly lit area and Mingyu knows it's their parents by the way the car lets out a few playful horn honks. The car parks on the gravel driveway and his grandmother enthusiastically waves at the vehicle.

When they say goodbye, Mingyu hugs his grandmother tight and laughs at her kisses before he and now nodding off Minseo are both herded into the car, off to finally settle into their new home.

Mingyu is most excited about having his own room, after having to share with his sister for the past three years. He didn't mind much, he liked having someone to talk to when he didn't want to fall asleep. But having his own room felt so much more grown up.

The drive is short and dark, a little bit scary too because he can't see _anything_ outside except for the occasional lit up windows from the few and far in-between houses they pass. When the car finally stops, Mingyu can see a porch light glowing softly, flickering every so often. It reminds him of lightning bugs.

He holds his mother's hand behind his father, who is carrying Minseo in his arms up the porch steps. It looks similar to his grandmother's place, a bit dirtier and there's the lack of smell that comes from the flowers she has overgrowing everywhere. But when the front door is opened and the lights flicked on, he's more comforted.

He spots the sofa they had in their home back in Anyang and the low table that he often gets scolded at for standing on. There are stacked boxes everywhere, with words scribbled on them like 'kitchen' and 'clothing'. It looks nothing like his old home but it's exciting, like that time they stayed at a house in Sokcho for a weekend.

The floor is scuffed and cool under his feet, Mingyu letting go of his mom's hand to pad across it and begin exploring. Each step emits a low groan from the ground below him, his mind conjuring up images he's seen on TV, of frozen icy rivers cracking and earthquakes splitting open the Earth, gobbling him up.

He tiptoes a bit more gingerly then.

There's a short, dark hallway off to the left that he turns down and when he peaks in the first room, he sees a large bed that he recognizes must be his parents'. He can hear them talking somewhere behind him; he hears Minseo wake up too, her voice whining.

The room at the end of the hall is the darkest; Mingyu notices the single window along the back wall, moonlight seeping in and onto the floor. There are various black shapes and blobs but he can't make out what any of them are and his imagination runs away with that.

He stops in the doorway, frozen with sudden fear. The house is suddenly all too quiet, his parents' voices having disappeared, no creaking footsteps to be heard. Mingyu is tempted to turn around and bolt back into the safety of the lit up living area but he thinks about Minseo shrieking at the sight of a lightning bug and remembers he's the big one, the older brother, and he shouldn't be afraid of a dark room, no matter how scary it seems.

With a jittery hand, he reaches up and feels around for a light switch, his arms frantically sliding around the wall. He squeezes his eyes shut at the thought of something hearing his movements and emerging from the darkness to swallow him whole.

Thankfully he finally flicks on the lights before that happens.

He lets out a heavy breath, gnawing on his bottom lip as he looks around the room, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.

It's pretty empty, sans a bed tucked in the corner that he can tell his mother made by the way the blankets are folded on top of it. There are a few boxes on the floor with his name scrawled on the side of them.

He feels less excited now about having his own room, the uneasiness he experienced just moments before still bubbling inside him. But he manages to carefully step around the room, peering out the window and seeing nothing besides blackness. There's no car or porch light, so he thinks his window must face the back of the house. It seems endless out there.

There is a closet on the opposite side of the room. His grandmother's place has a few too, with built-in shelves that he could climb and perch himself on top of. The prospect of having the same in his own room has his socked feet gliding across the floor to slide the door open.

Mingyu pouts when he realizes there are no climbable surfaces but it's short-lived as his curiosity is piqued by a small cardboard box shoved along the back of the closet.

Getting down onto his knees, he pulls the flaps open and his face lights up at what's inside.

There is a jumbo bag of Lego pieces on top, Mingyu unable to keep from squealing as he pulls it out to examine what's inside. Moving it reveals a few toy cars, their paint slightly chipped and a few pieces snapped off. He pulls out the red one and tests its wheels on the hardwood floor, smiling as it drives smoothly across it.

There's a stuffed teddy bear in the box too, covered in curly light brown fuzz that appears rather matted and a bit dirty. Mingyu doesn't think much of it though, stuffed animals aren't really his thing, so he leaves it untouched, focusing his attention back to the colossal bag of Legos.

Sometime later, his mother pops in from the hallway.

"What are you doing?" she asks with a smile, arms folded across her chest. Mingyu's already built up half of what he deems to be a space station, pieces scattered all around him as he sits crosslegged on the floor.

"I found these! Can I keep them?" he asks, not looking up from his creation.

"Hmm. Okay, but you need to clean it all up before bedtime."

He convinces his mother to let him leave the nearly completed space station in tact, promising to put it all away tomorrow, after he's finished it.

Mingyu's forced to wash up before bed, the water from the shower head freezing cold. His dad says he'll look at the water heater in the morning. So shivering, Mingyu happily dives into his bed with a smile. Minseo is next door and he finally has his own space; he feels almost grown up.

Except the feeling doesn't last very long. After his mother's kissed him good night and tucked in the blankets tightly around him, flipping the light switch off and wandering down the hall with creaky footsteps... he feels all too lonely.

A sliver of light pools in from the hallway, his mother having left the door open just a crack. It's quiet but he can hear faint footsteps and puttering around down the hall. His dad chuckles at something and it gives Mingyu the slightest bit of comfort.

He's tempted to sneak out and peek in Minseo's room, just to check on her because after all, as older brother, it's his job to watch out for her. And she probably misses him a lot, more than he misses her, no question. So even if he gets scolded by his parents for being out of bed, it would be a good older brother move to make sure she's doing okay.

Which he does, stealthily tiptoeing on the groaning floorboards out to the hallway. He squints in the sudden bright light before pushing open the door to his sister's room.

His eyes take a moment to readjust in the darkness and blinks at the sight before him because he can't believe it. Minseo is fast asleep, tucked in just as tightly as his mother had done to him. The room is peaceful and quiet.

He huffs to himself, a bit offended that she seems to be taking to her new room so well. She should miss him; he misses her, even if it's only a little bit.

The sound of his father's voice makes him jump and has him scurrying back to his room, swiftly closing the door behind him.

He realizes too late that now he's not only alone in complete darkness, in a place he doesn't know _at all_ , but also that his noisiness has most likely alerted his parents that he's awake.

Fear of getting caught outweighs fear of the blackness surrounding him so he blindly turns and lunges for his bed, the faint moonlight dribbling in his only help at navigating the foreign space.

He comes face first with his blanket, burying his nose in the familiar scent of the detergent his mother always uses. It's the one comforting thing he has right now so he clings to it and counts to fifty, waiting for his mom or dad to come check on him.

But even as he passes fifty, sixty, ninety-five... no one comes.

At one hundred, he finally pulls his head up and blinks at the room, everything vague shapes and long shadows.

There's nothing but quietness and he feels more scared than before. Shapes seem to float around the room and he remembers some awful movie he saw his father watching once on the TV. He had slept with his parents for a week after seeing only a few seconds worth of it.

Mingyu clutches his blanket in his hands, bunching it up until it's a giant wad held firmly against his chest. He imagines it as his mother, warm and nice to cling onto, comforting.

But the blanket fails as a substitute; it lacks her softness and her particular scent. The blanket is too thin and simply wrings in his steel grasp. He keeps adding to the wad, pulling in more and more until his arms can't stretch any further and he's left with a mess of a bed, fingers grappling at the material.

He feels sweaty now, uncomfortable all curled into the heat of the blanket. In a swell of bravery, he kicks it off, legs tangling before it tumbles onto the floor.

It's now that Mingyu wishes he hadn't so happily given away all his stuffed toys to his sister. He had recently felt too old for them, stuffed cartoon characters and puppies and bears were for babies. And he wasn't a baby any more, no matter how frightened he felt in the moment. But right now, having something squishier and softer, more suited for hugging and squeezing, would be nice.

Stuffed bears. He blinks his eyes a few times.

That bear he found in that left behind box, along with the Legos and cars.

Mingyu sits up on his knees, bangs sticking to his forehead enough to make him uncomfortable and cause him to ruffle his own hair. His vision is clear enough now that the room appears less sinister; he can see a stack of boxes and a faint reflection off the shiny closet door.

With a deep breath, he lunges off his bed and scrambles across the room, fumbling with the closet door before it successful slides open. His arms frantically wave around for the box, hands diving inside once he smacks it with his palm.

He reaches in and feels around for something soft and when he finds it... well, he doesn't know exactly what happens.

> _The road is floral and yellow, faded the way newspaper taped to windows does over the course of a summer, the words dimming and vanishing, leaving behind discolored paper and worn photographs._
> 
> _A shiny red car winds across the road, swerving left and right, dangerously so. There's a faint humming sound but no blowing wind, no rustling of trees, nothing else._
> 
> _The car tumbles suddenly, free falling off the yellow flower road, downwards until it lands with a crash. A side mirror snaps off and flies across the wooden surface as the car spins to a stop, upside down._
> 
> _A boy with long, shaggy black hair sighs heavily before picking up the miniature car and examining it. His fingers are dainty and precise as he lifts the tiny broken mirror and attempts to fit it back into place. He huffs out a breath to blow his bangs out of his eyes._
> 
> _"Minghao?" a voice calls out, slightly distorted. A woman appears in the doorway, apron tied around her waist. "Are you alright?"_

Mingyu gasps and drops the bear to the ground, scurrying backwards, away from the closet. His shoulder bumps into some of the stacked boxes and they tumble over to the ground with a series of loud booms.

His eyes are fixed on the bear, its face to the hardwood floor. He faintly hears the door creak open and the lights suddenly flicker on.

"Mingyu? Are you alright?" The repetition of words has his skin breaking out in goosebumps and he looks up at his mother wide-eyed. His fear must be evident because she wastes no time scooping him up off the ground and pulling him to her chest.

He cries for some time, he doesn't know how long, until he's suddenly sleepy, the softness of his mother's night shirt and the tickle of her hair lulling him into calmness.

When Mingyu awakes the next morning, he's again tucked carefully in his new bed, blanket straight and smooth. Sunlight streams in through the window; there are no more shadow figures or shapes dancing around. The boxes on the floor are straightened and no longer stacked. Instead they are lined up, one next to the other. The closet door is closed tightly and the floor is clean of any Legos or red racing cars.

And stuffed bears.

Mingyu's eyes flit around the room. He notices the wallpaper then, yellow faded flowers, and tries to conjure up the face of a shaggy-haired boy that lingers in his head. But he can’t remember it clearly.

He hears his mother call out to him that it's time to wake up, followed by Minseo's loud laugh.

_What a scary dream_ , he thinks to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/gyuwuhao)


End file.
